


Falling From Grace

by sepia_sigyn



Category: Norse Religion & Lore, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: 90s AU, 90s high school au, AOL, Anime, CDs, Chapters 11 and 12 are Epilogue and "Post-Credits Scene", Christian Character, Christian Character of Color, Death Metal, F/M, Female Characters of Color, High School AU, Late 90s, Loki is just a chill dude, Loki just wants to be himself, Loki/original female character - Freeform, My First Fanfic, No Smut, Sweet Tea, Texas, Thor/Original Female Character - Freeform, VHS Tapes, blackinfanfiction, but the music that inspired it is totally different from the music that’s in it, cornrows, everyone’s friendly for the most part, jock!thor, lots of talking, mad cameos, mild panic attack, outsider!loki, playlist fic, post-Captain Marvel references, pretty clean and sweet, sort of enemies to lovers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-24
Updated: 2019-03-24
Packaged: 2019-11-17 15:03:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 15,250
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18100877
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sepia_sigyn/pseuds/sepia_sigyn
Summary: High school junior Deanne “Dee” Higgins’ got it going on: a 4.0 GPA, an all-star track career, and aspirations to become an oncologist and conduct cancer research one day. She thinks her future’s all mapped out…until a pair of brothers she’d known only by her own preconceived notions shake things up.Thor “the Hammer” Odin, a senior, is the impossibly good-looking golden boy varsity quarterback of Cadie High’s elite champion football team. His brother, sophomore Loki Odin, is a tall, pale, lanky metalhead guitar player, often seen cutting class, playing with knives, and smoking.This AU/alternate timeline fic takes place in 1999 at an American high school in suburban east Texas over a weekend in early October.





	1. Chapter 1

_Friday morning, 9:46 AM_

“Desks clear, pencils out!” Mrs. Johnson exclaims, met by a chorus of groans. “Pop quiz time!”

Dee exhales. She’d meant to study for AP Chem last night, she really did…she just got caught up with the essay due for AP English Lit and the lab report for AP Bio on top of her evening run and helping her best friend Tiffani make signs for the cheer team car wash next weekend and-

“Miss Higgins? Desks clear.” Dee takes a deep breath. Counts to three.

That’s supposed to help, right?

It isn’t helping. She can’t do this. She can’t risk it.

“Mrs. Johnson? May I go to the bathroom?”

The chemistry teacher raises an eyebrow in her direction.

“It’s an, um….emergency,” Dee slips a small tampon pouch out of her jean pocket and nods her head towards it.

“OK, Miss Higgins, but you’ll have to sit outside and take the quiz when you get back.”

“Thank you, ma’am.”

Dee grabs her Tommy Hilfiger messenger bag, tossing it over a baby pink polo shirt clad shoulder and dashes out.

She runs down the staircases all the way to the first floor, and then to the courtyard outside the gym.

She’s in full panic mode now, her breath sharp and shallow. What should she do? Can she still study? Is there enough time?

She stops.

_No._

She opens her bag and takes out her Walkman and headphones, pulling a Korn album out of her CD wallet and popping it into the player with a satisfying click.

She slumps down on the side of the building, pulling her flared jeans covered knees up to her chest, throws her headphones on and closes her eyes.

The music is loud and aggressive. Yet somehow it always calms her down. If Tiff heard her listening to “white people music” like this, she’d tut in disbelief.

But right now she doesn’t care.

After five minutes, her breathing slows down, almost back to its regular pace.

She needed this.

And maybe a bit more.

She draws her breath…should she?

Yes.

_Why the hell not?_

Dee does it. She closes her eyes and screams, long and loud and at the top of her lungs.

Whew. That felt pretty good.

“Hmm, impressive,” a low voice mumbles from beside her. “Who’d’ve thought the track princess of Cadie High had it in her?”

Dee doesn’t notice him until she snaps her eyes back open. She jumps, lifting the headphone wire over her cornrow braids and under her ponytail, resting it on the back of her neck.

Loki.

This kid. She’d seen him around before in the halls. Tall. Pale. Lanky. Black hair.

Thor’s little brother. Wears a lot of black and metal band t-shirts. And those big cargo pants with the chains coming off ‘em. A sophomore, she thinks.

He’s smiled at her a few times, she recalls.

But she never smiles back.

As his piercing green eyes meet her wide brown ones for the first time, she notices.

An old soul. That’s what her grandmother used to call it. She died just last year and Dee misses those Saturday afternoons making pecan pie and coconut cake and talking about everything under the sun. What was it about this boy?

_Naw girl._

She tilts her head.

“What are you doing out here?” she squints.

“Minding my own business,” he squints back. “Just the same as you.” His voice is not quite what she expects. It’s low and raspy. And almost more of a growl at times. And, quite frankly, sounds like a cross between a cowboy, a knight, and a pirate. She studies him, her eyes pausing on his left hand where he’s holding a black lighter decorated with bright orange and red flames, the word “Megadeth” written on its side. He thumbs it without breaking her gaze, opening and closing the flame.

_What the f-. Just ignore it, Dee, it’s not worth it._

“What are you listening to anyway?” Loki snorts, but his eyes carry a hint of something else before he casts them down. A hint of sadness. Sincerity even?

Dee’s not taking the bait.

“Thought you was minding your own business.” Dee sneers at him.

“Probably rap. Am I right?”

_Oh no he didn’t._

“Uh, no. No, it’s not rap actually,” Dee rolls her eyes.

“Hip hop then.”

Dee coughs. _Really?_ “No.”

“Techno?”

“Hell naw, I hate techno.”

“Me too. Techno sucks.”

Their eyes meet for a few seconds. Dee blinks and looks down. She notices that her music is still on full blast, tinny guitar riffs ripping through the foam earpieces. She sighs and hits pause, the shiny plastic machine whirring in response. She drums her nails on it.

“So you gonna tell me?” Loki looks down and then directly at her again, shifting his weight in his lace-up Doc Marten boots, his midnight black hair shading his eyes. Dee notices how long and thick and almost…elegant his eyelashes are. And his lips, so full and soft-looking.

She blinks, shaking her head and coming back to her senses.

“Nope.”

“I’m just gonna be here then, minding my own business.”

“K, cool.” She shuts her eyes, perching her headphones back on top of her head and presses play.

He goes back inside the gym. About ten minutes later, the fire alarm rings and he pops out again. Dee jumps, shutting down her CD player and tossing it into her bag.

“Ugh. Not again. I better get back to my class before Mrs. Johnson sees me out here.”

Loki shrugs.

“Wait a minute…did you just?” Her eyes go wide at the thought and she glances back down at his left hand.

Loki shrugs again, shoving the lighter into one of his enormous pants pockets and walks away, his lips upturned ever so slightly and his eyes sparkling.

Dee sucks her teeth and heads in the direction of her class’ meeting point.

_Punk ass white boy._

As she walks down the street, she turns back and takes a look at Loki. He’s already halfway down the block, on his way to the strip mall down the street. She has to admit.

He’s got some nerve.

And she kinda respects that.

_Friday afternoon, 12:17 PM_

Dee chews on a bite of her turkey wrap and stares into space. She’d been distracted since her little encounter with the school weirdo this morning. Thankfully, Mrs. Johnson is letting her make up the Chemistry quiz next week, ‘cause she was so not in the zone today.

“Hello, earth to Dee?” Tiff pokes her in the arm with a pretzel rod. “I said we’ve got a surprise coming in about ten minutes.”

“A surprise?”

“Yeah, I think you’ll like this one.” She winks.

“Tiff…is this about…you-know-who.”

“ _Can’t touch this…doo noo noo noo,_ ” Tiff sings and shimmies her shoulders, mock-brushing them off like they have large pads on top of them.

“Girl, stop,” Dee laughs and swats at her arm.

“I’ve seen the way you look at him…you wanna get smashed by that Hammer! You should know he been looking at you too.”

“Shhh! He’s a _friend_. And besides…I ain’t trying to get down like that,” Dee shakes her head. She thinks about how she gets stares and followed around when she goes to the mall with certain friends. How she’ll hear a nasty slur thrown in her direction on occasion when she’s walking in town. Her throat tightens. The blond haired, blue-eyed quarterback is cute, she admits to herself. Very cute, in fact. But she couldn’t go there. Could she?

“Aw, come on, now’s your chance. Loosen up a bit before you hit Hopkins.”

“If I’m lucky, that is.”

“You know you’ve got it in the bag. So why not have a little fun this year, hm?”

“It’s not in the bag, T, you know junior year grades are really im-“

Tiff pops up from the table. “OK, time to get ready for the surprise. You, stay right here and do. Not. Move.”

Dee laughs, “OK, OK, this better be worth it.”

Tiff and several other uniformed cheerleaders disappear into the hall.

Dee sighs and munches on a chip. Well, she really could use a distraction.

“Ayyy, Cadie!” a group chants from one of the doors on the far side of the cafeteria.

“Yeah?” a second group calls back from a door on the other side.

“Ay Cadie!”

“Yeah?”

“Ay Cadie!”

“Yeah?”

“Let’s pump pump pump pump pump it up!”

“Let’s pump pump pump pump pump it up!”

Then they enter. Two rows, one on each side, stomping and clapping in rhythm as they continue the chants. Everyone turns and cheers. Dee hoots, catching Tiff’s eye and Tiff winks back.

“Ay Cadie!” “Yeah?” Ay Cadie!” “Yeah?” “Ay Cadie!” “Yeah?” “Let’s pump pump pump pump pump it up!” “Let’s pump pump pump pump pump it up!” “P-U-M-P” “P-U-M-P”

On the last P, the two rows of cheerleaders meet in the center of the cafeteria, holding a pose as...Dee gasps. The football team, led by none other than the Hammer himself, enters the cafeteria, in full uniform, jumping and cheering as best they can. Then they join the cheerleaders, remove their helmets, and pose. Thor takes a place right next to Tiff who whispers something to him that makes his cheeks turn bright red as he glances at Dee before looking down. Dee grins and waves at Thor and gives Tiff a hard look when Thor’s eyes are turned to a table of his friends, cheering and mimicking his pose. Tiff casts a coy smile in Dee’s direction then joins her teammates in psyching up the crowd.

“They’re all so cool,” a wide-eyed freshman sitting at the table next to Dee says and sighs. “I hope I can make the team next year.” “Yeah, me too. Especially if Lady Tiff is captain again. She’s amazing!” a blushing freshman exclaims, using the cheer nickname Dee had helped her pick out when she first made the team sophomore year. Dee smiles to herself. How time flies.

Then the next cheer starts. The cheerleaders hit both their kneels and stomp at the same time, then clap, then snap, then clap again, then stomp again, continuing the pattern over and over with the chant.

 _When I say rock, you say roll_  
_When I say ice cream, you say cold_  
_When I say disco, you say beat_  
_When I say Dragons, you say HEAT_  
_Say roooock rooooll ice cream coooold, disco beeeeat, dragons HEEEEAT_

They pick up the speed with the claps and chants.

_Say rock rock roll roll ice cream ice cream cold cold disco disco beat beat Dragons Dragons HEAT HEAT_

Thor and the other football players are too cute, Dee thinks. They clap in rhythm (well, attempt to) with the cheerleaders, smiling and revving up the crowd, which screams in delight.

Then, the final cheer begins. Thor’s entire face is bright red and Tiff pats him on the back and whispers something in his ear. He blushes even deeper.

“Whoooo! OKAY Cadie, on your feet! Y’all know this one. Help us out!” Tiff does a high kick and returns to the line as everyone stands and whispers in anticipation.

 _Cadie, Cadie, that’s our name_  
_You bring your boys we bring the FLAME_

Tiff runs out into the cafeteria, grabbing a few students to come up and join the team. She finishes by running to Dee, grabbing her hand and dragging her right towards Thor.

 _What are yo_ \- Dee mouths.

 _Just play along_ , Tiff mouths back.

 _You try to beat us you get HEAT_  
_Our Dragon’s Hammer can’t be BEAT_

Thor does a cross-armed pose in the middle and everyone laughs and cheers. Tiff twirls Dee around and she almost slams right into him, but catches herself at the last minute. She pretends to fawn and faint over Thor alongside a few of the cheerleaders, while Thor grins and basks in the “praise”.

 _Yeah, we say what [clap clap clap] Yeah, we say what [clap clap clap] Yeah we say what what what what what what what what what [clap clap clap]_  
_GO DRAGONS!_

The cheerleaders do a short step routine as Thor and the other football players grab the hands of their classmates who’d been dragged to the front and continue to pose. Dee thinks to herself, _heck, why not?_ And on the final “Go Dragons!” pulls off a high kick of her own.

Everyone whoops and cheers and Thor smiles at Dee. “Impressive,” his deep voice throws her off guard. “And without so much as a warm up.”

“Well, I’m gonna pay for it later, I’m sure,” Dee laughs.

“Maybe. But I’m still impressed. Perhaps you can teach me?”

“What I’ve got can’t be taught,” Dee winks. She finds herself falling right into flirting with Thor.

“No doubt but I am willing to try. How about tomorrow? Meet me at the gym at 8?”

Dee raises an eyebrow “So forward of you, Odin. And 7. Varsity weight room.”

Thor smirks, “OK. You’ve got yourself a training date. Don’t stay out too late tonight, I’m not gonna go easy on ya,” he winks at her before running off to talk to some of his teammates.

Tiff runs up to Dee and squeals. “Now was that so hard?”

Dee punches her in the arm, “It’s just training, Tiff. We’re training buddies? Bud-dies? As in friends?”

“Just training, okay, suuuure. He really likes you, you know,” Tiff elbows Dee in the ribs.

“I dunno…we’ll see,” Dee grins to herself. She had to admit…a teeny tiny part of her hoped Tiff wasn’t exaggerating.

Then, out of the corner of her eye, she sees him. Loki. In the hall, with his lighter. He catches Dee’s eye before grinning wide and wild and walking away, opening and closing the flame.

_Shit._

What was this kid up to now?


	2. Chapter 2

_Friday afternoon, 12:56 PM_

Her admiration from earlier had disappeared completely. Who the fuck did he think he was with his punk ass? Thinks he can get away with anything. Maybe even with hurting people.

“Hey. HEY!” Dee yells behind him. He ignores her, keeping his pace.

“Ay yo, trenchcoat mafia!” Dee shouts. He stops, taking a long drag from his cigarette. “You really out here starting fires?”

Loki turns around, the cigarette dangling from his long, white fingers. In his other hand he’s holding a pocket knife 

Dee’s eyes widen.

“I’m just trying to find good branches. See?” He points his cigarette to the large pocket on the side of his cargo pants where there are a few branches poking out. “To whittle.”

“Yeah, sure…whittle. Whittle?”

“It’s like stick carving. I do it to relax.”

“And what is it that you need to relax from so much?” Dee crosses her arms.

“My family,” Loki mutters, tossing his cigarette butt and taking out one of the sticks. He sits down on a bench and starts carving at it.

“Your family?” Dee blinks. “What’s so bad about your family?”

“They’re…it’s tough, that’s all.”

“Tough how? Y’all are like royalty around here. Some of us aren’t so lucky,” She presses her lips together, emphasis on the first three words indicating the deeper source of her ire. 

“I get that that’s hard but…you don’t understand…I love my brother and my mom especially…but it’s real shitty sometimes. Last year, you see…I found out I’m adopted.” 

“Shit…” Dee’s mouth drops open as she slides down on the bench next to him, hesitating. She barely knew the guy, had fury in her heart only minutes ago toward him but…suddenly felt a little protective of him. He was Thor’s little brother after all. “Do you want to talk about it?”

“Yeah…actually. I wouldn’t mind talking about it.”

Dee is quiet for several seconds. “Well…you’re welcome to talk…if it isn’t too weird for you. I know we don’t really know each other like that or anything but…” Dee pauses.

“It’s OK. I don’t mind sharing,” Loki smiles with his lips pressed together, his eyes twinkling a little, and he seems to relax a bit. “It’s weird…ma told me everything and I still don’t feel like it’s quite…real somehow? Maybe sharing it will help.” 

Dee nods, “Then share away.” 

Loki sighs. “You see…I was born in…um, in a tiny town in Canada called Jötenheim…my birth mom was, like, this incredible punk singer who was huge up in Vancouver in the 70s…but my dad left before I was born and then she…she just disappeared too. Left me at this church.”

He grows quiet for a minute, carving away on his branch. The tiny, soft _shif shif_ sounds fill the silence and Dee can see why he finds comfort in his…whittling, as he calls it. Loki exhales.

Dee shakes her head. She can’t imagine how he must feel and struggles to find the right words. “So how has it been…with your adopted family?”

“Ma has always been kind, supporting my music, she helped me pick out my first guitar and everything, and Thor, well we fight sometimes but he’s mostly a good bro…then there’s Dad.” He grits his teeth. “I think he wishes I were more like Thor. You know, sports star, golden boy, all of that.”

Dee swallows. Did he see her just then cheering up Thor with everyone else? She thinks about what it must be like to be constantly compared to…all that. “You have your own talents and you’re using them…doesn’t he see that?”

“Sure, but…you know, not everyone understands this stuff. Some people just don’t get it. They think I, um, that I…worship the devil or am into drugs or am messed up and insane.”

Dee casts her eyes to the side. She’d thought some of those very same things until today.

“I’m not into drugs, I’m not into all that bullshit, it’s not for me. I just…I don’t like putting up a fake image to the world,” Loki exhales. “And so much of what people expect from me is about what looks right, you know?”

“I feel that.” Dee nods. “Sometimes I feel like people don’t want to see the real me either. They see perfect superstar track princess future doctor Dee. Not scared and stressed and a little bit nutty Dee.”

“That scream was pretty wild there, girl.” The corner of Loki’s mouth turns up. 

“Yeah, there’s a lot more where that came from, trust me.” Dee smiles back. “So wait. You said you play guitar?” 

“Yeah. I play in a band, actually. We’re on tonight at the Valhalla Lounge.”

“You’re doing a live show?” Dee’s eyes widen.

“Yeah, uh, well…would you like to come?”

“I dunno…I mean, I wanna hear you play, but…” Dee pauses. What would this place be like? Would there be anyone who looks like her there?

“It’s a pretty chill crowd,” Loki lifts his head in her direction. “They care about the music more than anything and as long as you’re there to appreciate it, you’ll be welcome.”

“OK…so, sure. Yeah, I’m in.” Dee smiles. 

Loki flushes and grins back at her. “OK. Cool. We live at 7896 La Vaca. Meet me there at the entrance on the side of the house whenever you’re ready tomorrow afternoon and we’ll drive into Houston together. Show starts at 8.”

“OK cool. Hey, if you need to reach me, you can call or IM me tomorrow,” Dee reaches for his left hand and rests it on her knee as she writes. It’s cooler than she expects, and a little rough and calloused - from playing guitar, she supposes. Greenish veins decorate the inside of his wrist and she swears she sees a thread of bright green light course through them. Nah. Must be the Texas sun.

The skin on the back of Loki’s arm pricks up as she scrawls the numbers and letters on the heel of his palm, “Cool,” he says as she waves and walks off. “Cool.”

 


	3. Chapter 3

_Saturday morning, 6:52 AM_

Dee slams the door of her car shut, yawns, and stretches her arms above her head. She smiles to herself.

_OK, girl. You got this. Just do what you usually do. Cardio, squats, weights. This is you. This has **been** you since you were 9, dang it. _

She shakes her head as she heads for the varsity weight room. Why was she even nervous? Thor’s just one of the guys who hangs with Tiff and the other football players and cheerleaders sometimes at the diner after school. They’d all gone to the same elementary school, and middle school, and now high school. They’d had sleepovers and movie parties and first who-likes-who drama together. And Thor was always there, a bigger dude from about 6th grade especially, but always warm and smiling, at least with his friends. He was a beast on the field. She admired both sides of him… _admired_ , as a friend.

A sweet and soulful voice wafts from the weight room. _Ah._ Dee grins. _My 6 AM buddy._

 _Take these stars from my crown_  
_Let the years fall down_  
_Lay me out in firelight_  
_Let my skin feel the night_  
_Fasten me to your side_  
_And say it'll be soon_  
_You make me so crazy baby_  
 _Could swallow the moon_ * 

Wiry, tanned arms set the 400 lb barbell down gently and the figure behind them sits up. Dee is met with a pair of kind deep brown eyes and a smiling dimpled face, crowned by a muss of fluffy black hair. 

“Hey Bruce,” Dee waves.

“Oh hey Dee,” the boy wipes his forehead.

“What are you up from last month, about 50?”

“Yeah, yeah,” Bruce shrugs. “I owe it to her really,” he nods his head to the CD player. “She keeps me calm. Helps me concentrate.” 

“She does have a very pretty voice,” Dee smiles.

“Ey, didn’t see you in Chem yesterday,” Bruce caught Dee’s eye. “Everything ok?”

Dee exhales and places a hand behind her head, “Yeah, um, just had a bit of a stomach bug. I’m OK now. How was the quiz?”

“Eh, nothing brutal. Another equation from the free response sets we’ve been doing in study group.”

“Not one of the Gibb’s ones was it? Those always trip me up.”

Bruce grins and reaches out for his water bottle, which is set on the floor by Dee’s feet, “Yeah, they did me too, but I’ll show you the trick I figured out next group?”

“That’s be awesome,” Dee tosses him the bottle.

“Y’all got a duel meet next weekend, right?”

“Heck yeah, we’ll be out at Hunter next Saturday,” Bruce claps his hands and stands up.

“Hunter? That’s where Raucous Rachel’s is from, right?”

“Yup! You know I’m matched with her, since we’re both in 220, right?”

“No waaay! I’d love to see that,” Dee puts her hands on her hips. “Think you can beat her?”

Bruce smiles and shrugs, “I think she’ll put up a good fight.”

Just then the door of the weight room swings open and a booming, pitchy voice sings:

_Oh what a beautiful mooooorning,_

_Oh what a beautiful daaaay!_

Dee and Bruce burst into giggles. “Oh mighty Thor! So good of you to grace us with your…vocal renderings on this fine autumn morn,” Dee bows.

“What better way to psych yourself out for a kick ass workout than with a little vocal warm up,” Thor smirks in Dee’s direction.

“You sure you don’t want to join the musical? We can put in a good word with Nat for yah, she’s dance captain this year. You’d make a mean Danny Zuko,” Dee nudges Thor’s rib. 

“I think Nat might have her sights set on Steve for that part,” Bruce snorts and Dee glances down. Oh shit…she’d forgotten that quick. The two had supposedly just split up and now Nat was dating this senior, Steve Rogers, from AP Lit…or so she’d heard from Tiff.

“Banner,” Thor’s voice is bright and loud as he claps Bruce’s shoulder, shifting the energy in the room. “Thor,” Bruce nods in response.

“Meet next week, right?”

“Right.”

“Best of luck to you, man,” Thor claps his back again, a bit harder this time, and Bruce winces a little and Dee raises her eyebrow. Bruce is a good guy and a friend. Does Thor really think he has something to prove here?

“Thanks, man. Hey, I’m heading out. I’ll email you the Chem notes, Dee?”

“Cool, thanks Bruce. Talk to you later." 

Bruce throws his towel over his shoulder, snorts in Thor’s direction, and walks out.

Dee begins to stretch out her shins and arms and Thor follows suit. 

“So, Miss Deanne. Are you ready to smash this workout Hammer-style?”

“Ah hem. I think you’ll find that we’ll be _ruling_ it, Princess-style.” 

“Is that a challenge?” 

“You bet.”

“Then let’s get to it.”

“Music?” 

“Lady’s choice.”

Dee pops TLC’s _Fanmail_ into the CD player and clicks Play. 

“Oh, so we have a cyber girl here. Meet me in the chatroom later?” Thor winks.

“You wish.” Dee winks back.

They start with a series of stretches, both gracefully nailing them in unison.

“Smooth moves, dude,” Dee says.

“Not a bad start yourself, princess. But can you keep it up?” 

“Watch this.”

Dee moves into one of her favorite warm up combinations “Come on, Odin, show me what you got! 1-2 kick punch! 1-2 kick punch!”

“You got them Tae Bo moves down, girl,” Thor glances down at Dee’s…form and she clears her throat.

They move into legwork: lunges and squats.

“How low can you go, Thor, hm?” Dee says, showing off the thigh strength her years of training had afforded her.

“This low,” Thor manages to practically squat on the ground before rising back up and meeting Dee’s eyes.

“Lovely turn out you got there, boo.” Dee chuckles. 

“OK, now let’s switch up the music for the next set of squats,” Thor jogs over to the CD player and clicks in his pick. 

 _Hi! My name is.. (what?) My name is.. (who?)_  
_My name is.. Slim Shady_  
_Hi! My name is.. (huh?) My name is.. (what?)_  
_My name is.. Slim Shady_

Dee laughs. “Really Thor? Really? I wouldn’t‘ve pegged you for being into Eminem.” 

“Well, I might surprise you, Dee.”

“He’s not too rude for you?”

Thor shakes his head and smiles.

“You just better hope no teachers come up in here.” 

Thor turns the sound up.

“I ain’t scared.”

Dee shakes her head and takes her position. 

They grab their weights, Dee her usual 5s, 8s, and 15s on each side of the barbell, Thor…well, Thor. 

“How much weight you got on there, boy?” Dee glances at what looks like about 300 pounds on each side. 

“This? My warm up weight?” Thor grins and lifts it up like it’s nothing. 

They get in a few series of deadlifts, rows, and presses before moving into triceps and bicep curls and flies on the mat with their smaller weights. 

Finally, sweating and sore, they lie down silently on the mat and prepare for cool down.

“Here’s a stretch Nat taught me called Pilates.” She places one foot on the other knee and pulls both legs inward gently. She exhales. “Feels real good on the hips, don’t it?” 

Thor attempts the pose and, after a few tries, manages to rest his foot on his knee. “Yeah, that’s a nice one,” he breathes.

Dee lies on her back and pulls each leg in. Thor does the same and grows quiet.

“Hey mighty one. Penny for your thoughts?”

She turns her head and he shifts next to her. A low sound catches itself in his throat and just as she opens her mouth to ask him again, he crushes his lips into hers.

Her breath hitches. She’s caught off guard but…she doesn’t exactly hate this?

In fact, 

_damn, the boy could kiss._

But still. 

This wasn’t....

“Deanne,” he stammers as he sits up. “I beg your pardon, I didn’t mea-“

“It’s OK, shh, relax,” Dee sits up and rubs his shoulder.

“Um,” Thor smiles.

“Yeah, um,” Dee laughs.

“Didn’t expect that to happen.” 

“I.” 

“We.”

“Yeah.”

“Well…um…I don’t want to say…that was.”

“It wasn’t bad.”

“No, not bad.”

“But.”

“But?”

“We’re friends…right, Thor?”

Thor holds her gaze for a moment before sighing and reaching out his hand. “Right.”

Dee shakes it.

“Lord, I tell ya…Tiff’s been trying to set us up so hard.”

Thor lets out a sharp forced laugh, “She’s outrageous, your friend, Tiff.”

“And…on that note…maybe you should know…I’m going to, uh, I’m going to see your brother play later on tonight?”

“You’re going to Loki’s show?” 

“Yeah, uh, we’ve been talking a bit.” 

“Hm.” Thor grows silent.

“Maybe you’d like to come?” Dee throws out, suddenly and awkwardly, wishing she could take it back the minute she says it.

“I’ve got other plans with some guys from the team.” Thor’s mouth is a straight line.

“Oh…OK…well…see you tomorrow at church, I guess,” Dee rises, grabs her water bottle and walks out, leaving Thor staring at his feet.

 

*Song: “Jupiter” by Jewel


	4. Chapter 4

_Saturday morning, 10:18 AM_

Dee double clicks on the AOL icon and logs in to her account: _Xxrun_gurl_runxX_. After about two minutes of beeps, pings, static, and squawks, she’s greeted with that familiar, punchy voice:

WELCOME!

YOU’VE GOT MAIL!

Dee checks and sees an email from _DuplexSuplex_ :

_Howdy Dee!_

_Here are the notes from Chem yesterday. If you have any questions let me know :) –Bruce_

_Bruce is so sweet_ , Dee thinks as she clicks Print and sets the notes aside. _Hope he’s doing OK…he seemed fine this morning but you never know._ Then she checks her date book and sees it.

_Shoot._

She was supposed to tutor Peter Parker this afternoon. Well, it wasn’t so much tutoring as it was not being able to introduce the precocious 6th grader to the principles of quantum mechanics quickly enough. Dee liked teaching Pete: he was one of the most respectful and appreciative people she knew, and he was only eleven years old.

But tonight, she has plans.

A date actually, she smiles to herself.

She glances over at her buddy list and sees _DuplexSuplex_ still online.

She could ask…. _Hm. Maybe it would help him get his mind off things._  

_Xxrun_gurl_runxX: hey bruce…thx for the notes!_

_DuplexSuplex: np :)) how was ur workout with the HAMMER?_

_Xxrun_gurl_runxX: haha, i think he’ll be sore tomorrow, couldn’t keep up with the track princess ;)_

_DuplexSuplex: walk it off, hammer, lol_

_Xxrun_gurl_runxX: lol XD_

_Xxrun_gurl_runxX: hey bruce u free this afternoon?_

_DuplexSuplex: ya should be free after 2 or so y?_

_Xxrun_gurl_runxX: i’m supposed to tutor Pete today at 4 but i’ve got plans…could u cover 4 me?_

_DuplexSuplex: yeah, np, haven’t seen the lil guy in a minute. how’s he doing?_

_Xxrun_gurl_runxX: awesome as ever and thank u soooo much. tell him and his aunt i’ll see them next week_

_DuplexSuplex: ok ttyl_

_Xxrun_gurl_runxX: cu_

Her eyes have barely darted back over to her buddy list when an instant message pops up from _Lady_Tiff83_.

_Lady_Tiff83: @_____@_

_Xxrun_gurl_runxX: what’s up?_

_Lady_Tiff83:_ _bio lab @_____@_

_Xxrun_gurl_runxX: thought u finished after 5 th period?_

_Lady_Tiff83:_ _nah, still gotta type up the notes_

_Xxrun_gurl_runxX: lol the ap struggle is real ;_; what’s the plan after that?_

_Lady_Tiff83: gonna hang with sam, clint, and laura at the mall. wanna come?_

_Xxrun_gurl_runxX: hm, maybe just for a little while, i could use something for tonite…_

_Lady_Tiff83:_ _tonite??? gurl who what where??_

_Xxrun_gurl_runxX: uh loki’s band is playing at a bar in Houston??_

_Lady_Tiff83:_ _loki? u mean thor’s pasty weird bro? speaking of which, how was the ahem, TRAINING DATE???_

_Xxrun_gurl_runxX: it was cool yeah uh so we kinda…kissed_

_Lady_Tiff83:_ _gurl WAT and WHY didn’t u lead with that???_

_Xxrun_gurl_runxX: it just kinda happened and then we was like ‘cool yeah let’s be friends’ and i told him i was chillin with loki tonite and he got real quiet_

_Lady_Tiff83:_ _wow…that’s a lot to take in_

_Xxrun_gurl_runxX: he seemed cool about it…mostly? i think?_

_Lady_Tiff83: Deanne Higgins_

_Lady_Tiff83:_ _u really like that weirdo over him?_

_Xxrun_gurl_runxX: …i dunno…maybe i do_

_brrrring!_ A message pops up on the screen from d4rktrQnqu1L1t4.

 _d4rktr4nQu1L1t4:_ _hey_

Dee’s stomach does a little flip.

_Xxrun_gurl_runxX: hold up he messaging me now_

_Lady_Tiff83: who loki!!!!! 0_0 git it girl. Meet us at 12 k?_

_Xxrun_gurl_runxX: lol shut up t. k l8tr_

Dee clears her throat and clicks back on the newer window.

_Xxrun_gurl_runxX: hey_

_Xxrun_gurl_runxX: love your screen name btw. sooo easy to read_

_d4rktr4nQu1L1t4:_ _haha do i detect sarcasm, track princess?_

_Xxrun_gurl_runxX: you tell me ;)_

“Dee! You almost off that computer? I need to use the landline.” A voice calls from the kitchen.

“Getting off now, Ma!” Dee sighs. 

_Xxrun_gurl_runxX: hey gtg but be there around 4 OK_

_d4rktr4nQu1L1t4:_ _OK cool cu then :)_

“Dee, baby, Peter’s aunt called to confirm for this afternoon and I told her you’ll be there at 4,” Mrs. Higgins says as she puts on her earrings.

“Oh, um, actually, Ma, I have plans tonight so Bruce is gonna cover.”

Mrs. Higgins arches her eyebrows, “Plans? What sort of plans?”

“Uh, just going out with some friends from school to the movies and maybe one of their houses after,” Dee hated lying to her parents…but driving into the city alone? With the Odin boy? On his learners? She knew her mom would freak. 

“OK, baby, just keep your phone on and let me know when you’re coming home.”

“OK, ma." 

“I’m off to a board meeting and your pa’s in the operating room all day but there’s some pasta from last night in the fridge.”

She leans over and kisses Dee’s cheek. “Thanks, ma.”

_Saturday afternoon, 12:19 PM_

“So what are you looking for exactly?” Tiff and Dee stroll through the mall, having separated from the others for this very special mission.

“I dunno, something punk rock-looking. Probably black. Maybe leather, though I don’t like to wear leather. Not that I ever wear lea-“

“Mm hm, sure,” Tiff nods and gives Dee a knowing look. “We’ll find you something. By the time we finish, you’re gonna be the fly-est punk princess to ever grace that music hall.”

They head to the one mall store they know of that will have exactly what they need: Hot Topic.

On the way in they pass an entire wall of spiky choker collars. 

“Eh, don’t know if I’m ready for all that,” Dee glances around the shop. It was mostly what she expected – a lot of black, a lot of plaid, and a lot of band shirts. They had more cutesy and pastel things than she’d imagined, but that wasn’t her mission today.

“How about this?” Tiff picks up a short plaid skirt. “With some of those combat boots?”

“I dunno, Tiff, that’s _real_ real short.”

“Okay, hmmm, maybe some of these?” Tiff grabs a pair of ripped black jeans.

“Now those I like,” Dee nods. 

“Ok, OH! This.” Tiff scoops up a short black mesh baby doll dress with bell sleeves. 

“YES. I love that!”

They scoop up a few more items and Dee rushes into the fitting room. Tiff waves her on.

“I’ll try and find some jewelry to go with it.” 

Dee parts the curtain and is clad in a short black Wednesday Addams-type collared dress. Tiff tilts her head.

“It’s kinda cute but ehhhh…not for tonight.”

The next time she opens it, she’s wearing the ripped jeans and a black tank top. 

“That’s not bad,” Tiff rubs her chin. 

“It’s comfortable,” Dee lifts her knees.

Next time, she’s wearing acid wash jeans and a black t-shirt with a flaming skull on it with a studded belt. 

Tiff sticks her tongue out and does the rock-out sign with both hands and Dee does the same. They laugh. 

Dee shakes her head. “Nah.”

Finally, Dee tries on the dress and it’s stunning. It floats around her when she turns like a little gothic cloud. She feels like a dark fairy angel doll. 

Tiff hands her a black ribbon choker with praying hands on it.

“Perfect…get a lil Jesus in there,” Dee winks. 

“Dee…whoo! That boy’s not gonna know what to do with himself.” Tiff claps.

“It’s good, isn’t it?” 

“Just wear those knee high black boots you have and do your eyes up and a deep berry lip and…wow wow wow.”

Dee purchases the items and they wander down the mall.

“Thanks Tiff.”

“I don’t understand it, but I love ya, Miss Deanne. Hope it goes well tonight,” Tiff squeezes Dee’s arm and they squeal together.

“Thanks, girl. I’ll let you know how it goes tomorrow,” they hug and Dee dashes off to her car.


	5. Chapter 5

_Saturday afternoon, 4:06 PM_

Dee pulls into the driveway of the large McMansion at 7896 La Vaca. She walks around to the side door, where Loki had told her to meet him, and knocks. 

Loki creaks open the door and his mouth drops open when he sets his eyes on her.

“Hey.”

“Hey Loki.”

“Wow.” He’s silent for several seconds, his emerald eyes wide and watery. 

“You look…incredible Deanne.”

“Thank you, Loki. Do I look like I’ll fit in?”

“You look like…yourself.” He grins and motions for her to enter.

Loki stretches his arms out. “Welcome to my humble abode, princess. Please make yourself at home,” he bows, lifting his glinting eyes to hers at the very last second.

“Thank you, kind sir,” Dee bows back. Loki spins around and snaps up a shiny, black electric guitar from its holder.

“Is that –“

“Yep, this is my guitar. I call her Sigyn.” 

“See-gan?”

“ _See-ghin_. It’s from this Norse myth I read once.”

“Loki?”

“Hm?”

“You’re kind of a nerd.”

“Is that a problem?”

“No…obviously not. I just…didn’t expect it.” Dee smiles, glancing around.

“Cool spot you got here.”

“Yeah, it’s kinda like my secret hideout,” Loki blushes. “You’re one of the lucky few who has seen it in all its glory.”

“Oh am I?” Dee finds herself blushing a bit too. A jet black couch sits in the center with dark green pillows on it and the walls are all painted black. There’s a shiny black and green computer desk where his Gateway PC, a gold mouse, and a black cordless phone and answering machine rest. A Playstation, a Sega Genesis, and a few scattered game cases sit next to a rather large television, the same size as the one Dee’s Pa watches football on with his buddies every Sunday, and a stereo system complete with large, black speakers that are just taller than Dee’s knees. A few VHS tapes, some familiar, others with artfully drawn cartoon images she doesn’t recognize but many share the same big-eyed style are scattered on the floor. _Interesting…_ Metal band posters abound, as do images of…mythical creatures, she thinks? She’s drawn to this one image of a gorgeous punk singer, a woman caught mid-scream strumming on a guitar, her jet black hair splayed above her ivory face like a dark halo.

She reads the old-timey script at the bottom of the poster: “Lara Fey”

She swallows.

“Is…is this your birth mom, Loki?” she’s gentle, not sure how he’ll react.

“Yeah, that’s her,” he sighs, toying with his guitar.

“She’s really beautiful…and so fierce. Wow,” Dee says, blushing even deeper. She means it.

“Yeah, I hear she was something. Wish I could’ve seen her in action.” Loki is quiet for a while, continuing to fiddle with his guitar.

A distraction is needed. Or at least something to break the tension. But what?

_Ah ha._

Dee pulls out a pocket-sized rectangular black box with a nubby antenna. She clicks through to “Games.” 

“You got one of those things?” Loki nods towards Dee’s phone and sets his guitar back in its stand. 

“Here, check this out. It’s got a cool game on it. Best thing about it to be honest,” she tosses Loki her phone. 

“Snake?” he clicks.

“Just use the numbers to direct the snake to eat. He’ll grow bigger each time. But don’t hit the walls or eat your own tail.”

Loki is silent for a whole minute, transfixed. “I friggin love this.” 

Dee chuckles. “Yeah, it’s kinda addictive. OK, gimme, I’m not gonna sit here while you play with your snake all night.”

Dee raises her eyebrows and Loki swallows, a hint of pink flushing his cheeks as he gazes at Dee with deviously glossy eyes. Dee falls out laughing again.

“You know what I mean!” 

“OK, so…we’ve got some time before we need to head out…what do you wanna do?”

Loki’s eyes meet Dee’s, warm and excited and open-hearted. She holds his gaze for several seconds before breaking the silence, awash in the glow of potential. What did he really want to do? What could they do tonight? 

_They could start simple, for one._

“Let’s listen to some music.” 

“What kind of music do you like?”

That question. So familiar. She usually said what was expected. But tonight…tonight, she was honest.

“All kinds. Hip hop, pop, a little alt rock, a little grunge. And I’m open minded. You?” Dee grins. She thinks she can guess but gives him the benefit of the doubt. 

“Melodic death metal, mostly,” Loki smiles, brushing a loose strand of pitch black hair behind an alabaster ear. “Especially Dark Tranquility. They’re from Sweden.”

“Ohhh, your SN.” Dee smiles wide and Loki blushes. “Melodic? Sounds…actually, sounds intriguing. You gotta play me some but first I got a surprise for you.” She snickers, sliding a cassette with “Practice Mixx Spring ‘99” written in sharpie on it from her bag.

“Don’t look!” she shouts and he turns his head, laughing and covering his eyes.

“Yes, ma’am.”

A laser beam shooty sound fills the room and Loki covers his head with a pillow:

_Yo lis-_

Loki groans.

 _ten up, here's the story_  
_About a little guy that lives in a blue world_  
_And all day and all night and everything he sees is just blue_

Loki deadpan stares at Dee, who’s in a fit of silent giggles.  
_Like him, inside and outside_  
_Blue his house with a blue little window_  
_And a blue Corvette_

He keeps staring, the corner of his mouth tilting upwards.  
_And everything is blue for him_  
_And himself and everybody around_  
_'Cause he ain't got nobody to listen_

“Fuck you, I hate this fucking song,” Loki chucks the pillow at Dee. He grins and his grin soon erupts into a giggle fit of his own. Dee can't contain herself anymore either. 

When they both finally come back to their senses, Dee meets Loki’s eyes.

“Thought you’d appreciate it since it’s European like your melodious death metal.”

“It’s **melodic** death metal and that’s literally the opposite of what I appreciate.”

“Not too crazy about it either, we just use it for warm ups.” Dee wipes tears from her cheeks.

“Here, turn that shit off and put this in,” he holds up a CD on his index finger and she gently takes it on its sides. “Their latest, _Projector_.”

A haunting piano tune fills the room. “That’s pretty, actually. Kinda reminds me of like a horror movie or something.”

Heavy guitars rifts and growling vocals soon take over, but the guitar rift below continues the almost sweet tune from the beginning. 

“Ah, there we go.”

“I’ve got a bit of it down too. Check it.” He picks up his guitar and begins plucking along with the track, his hair shading his face as he cradles his instrument.

“Eyyy, you got it, Loki. Soundin’ good over there.”

“I found a MIDI online and learned it by ear,” Loki puts his guitar back in its holder again and flops back on the couch. “Fuck, I wish I could see em live. They’ve got whole festivals for metal in Europe. Damn, I gotta go someday.”

“Festival?” Dee scrunches her nose, remembering footage from the summer of fires, groping, and chaos. “Not like Woodstock, I hope.” 

Loki chuckles, “Naw, they’re chill. Not like those poseurs.” 

“Good,” Dee met his eyes. “Maybe I’d like to go too. Just to see how they do all of it.”

“Yeah?" 

“Yeah. Like, how do they do their voices like that?”

Loki grins and chuckles. “Oh you mean the death growl?”

“Death growl?” Dee cackles. “Yeah, that.”

Loki clears his throat. “It’s kinda like,” and he lets loose a low groan that’s much more Marge Simpson than it is death metal.

“You sure that’s it? You were like: huuuuuuh,” Dee imitates. 

“That’s why I stick to lead guitar, at least for now.” Loki smiles. “Hey, you watch Buffy?”

“Nah. I wanted to get into it but it’s just too…and, no offense…but it’s a bit too white for me,” she searches his eyes for his reaction. They sparkle back at her directness.

“It’s alright, I get it. Would be cool to have a black girl in a kick ass role like that.”

“Did you know, we almost got one? They’re making a show coming out next year called Dark Angel…I read in a magazine that Spielberg wanted to cast a black actress in the role but picked a white Latina actress…someone called Jessica Alba instead…damn, so close,” Dee snapped and shook her head. Loki grins and she chuckles. “Maybe one day.”

“I’m sure one day.”

“You got a lot of hope, mister, for someone who’s supposed to be so-“ Dee’s eyes widen as she cuts herself off. 

“So what?" 

“So, um. Depressed.”

“That’s the thing…I’m not…depressed. Depression, it’s very serious and it’s not what a lot of people think. I have a friend from the UK, we chat about metal stuff online sometimes, he suffers from it and he’s told me what it’s like.”

“Is he doing OK?” Dee asks.

“Yeah, he’s gotten treatment and he’s doing much better now – I actually convinced him to speak to someone,” Loki nods. 

“As for me…apart from the adoption shit, I’m really OK. 

“That shit’s nothing to sneeze at.” Dee’s eyes search his.

“No…but that’s not…you know, it’s life stuff, right? We all go through life stuff.”

Dee nods. “Yeah, you right. People make assumptions…it’s stupid. I did too,” Dee casts her eyes down. 

Loki places a hand on her chin and lifts her face, his eyes meeting hers. “But aren’t you glad we’re getting to know each other now? So you know the truth?” 

Dee’s heart pounds and her cheeks flushes as he leans in and presses his lips into hers.

His touch is surprisingly cool, she notices again. But she soon forgets as his lips seem to warm up and then practically burn hers as she returns his kiss. He circles his arms around her waist and she wraps her arms around his chest as they separate with a soft exhale. Their eyes meet for a minute. His pupils are so big now with only a hint of an emerald outline. They snap close as he pulls her back in and grazes her lips, cheek, and neck with tiny pecks.

Then they lie there, resting in each other’s arms, for what feels like at least an hour. 

Finally, Loki glances up at the clock on the wall. “Hey, princess” he says softly, stroking her cheek. “We’d better go.”


	6. Chapter 6

_Saturday evening, 5:17 PM_  

“We just gotta go pick up my car from my neighbor’s. Best mechanic I know. He’s my brother’s age but already in his third year at Rice. Don’t know how he finds the time, then again maybe he’s just that quick.” 

The house next door is even bigger than the Odins.

A familiar song blares from the garage. Dee bounces her head to the beat. 

 _Do you really wanna party with me_  
_Let me see just what you got for me_  
_Put all your hands where my eyes can see_  
_Straight buckwildin' in the place to be*_

A tanned, spiky-haired boy in reflector sunglasses, ripped jeans, and a sleeveless t-shirt with Notorious B.I.G. wearing a tilted crown on it pops his head out from under the hood of an ‘87 black Camero.

“Yooooo Loki.”

“Sup Tony. How’s she lookin’”

“Almost done. Just gotta refill the cooling system and you’re good to go. I got the AC so cold you’ll be calling your ride Car-beria.”

Dee and Loki exchange knowing looks and chuckle. This was Texas after all, so Dee thought. “Cool, man, thanks.”

“You know I could soup this baby up for ya anytime you like. Offer still stands.” Tony claps Loki on the back.

“I’ll think about it.”

“You do that." 

Loki shifts his feet. “Your parents in town this weekend?”

“Nah, they’re out at some benefit in Austin all weekend, then they’ll be in DC for the next two weeks for a conference. They’ll be back just in time for ‘Take your kids to work day’ so they can parade me around as NASA’s future Director of Engineering yet again.” Tony rolls his eyes and grows silent and Loki smiles at him with tight lips, his eyes going soft. “Yo, I’m having another party tonight,” he smiles deviously at Dee and then glances over to Loki. “Y’all gonna come through?”

“We’ll see what time we get back from the show,” Loki bangs the roof of his car with his fist.

“Hey Loki. Hey Dee.” A cheerful voice calls from the balcony. A tall, leggy girl wearing a plaid mini skirt, baby tee with a peace sign on it, knee high socks, and tiny butterfly clips in her strawberry blonde hair waves from above.

“Hey Pepper.” Dee waves back. “Tiff says she’ll have the ad for the cheer team car wash in to you by Monday, by the way.” 

“OK cool. Hey, you two comin’ to the party tonight?”

“Thinking about it, yeah. I’ve got a show so maybe we’ll come by later with Nat and Steve?”

“Wicked. Hope to see y’all there. Baaabe, everything’s set up for us to make our sushi! Come up when you’re finished, ‘kay?”

“Affirmative,” Tony does an impression of a robot voice and blows her a kiss, “Robot kiss.” 

Pepper pretends to catch it and blows one back “Robot kiss.” Loki and Dee eye each other and smile. They seem to share a healthy appreciation of lovable dorkiness.

“Later y’all!” 

_Saturday evening, 8:03 PM_

“Please welcome to the stage… Jötenheim!”

Dee is sitting comfortably near the side of the stage where she can see Loki standing behind the lead singer, his head bowed over his guitar.

The first song starts out like the track he’d played for her earlier…slow and bittersweet. Then it picks up dramatically and Loki’s thrashing it out to the tempo kept by the drummer as the singer does a few of what Dee now knows are death growls. 

The second and third songs are familiar ones that many in the crowd seem to know (as they cheer loudly and sing along). 

The fourth song, which the lead singer announces was written by none other than their lead guitarist, almost like a Nordic folk tune kicked up to eleven. It lasts for about eleven minutes too.

And then there’s the final song. The leader singer announces that it’s the beginning of Loki’s latest composition. The song is called “Her Scream” and he started writing it just earlier today.

Dee feels her stomach flip in a not-entirely-unpleasant way.

_Did he write a song about me?_

It starts with a sweet, almost bluesy melody, then twists into something that almost sounds like circus music, then into hard and fast guitar riffs, then back into the sweetness of the beginning.

Dee watches quietly from the side, tears streaming down her face. She couldn’t explain what it was but something about the song made her feel simply…seen. Like no one had ever seen her until right now. In all her rage and confusion, and confidence and successes…in her softness and toughness and even her stubbornness. It was all in there.

She didn’t notice that the applause had died down and the next band was starting to set up until one of the band members called her name and waved her into the backstage area.

 

*”Put Your Hands Where My Eyes Can See” by Busta Rhymes


	7. Chapter 7

_Saturday evening, 9:23 PM_

Dee nods and shakes the band members' hands, commending them on the show. Loki strolls up last and she rushes in.

“Loki?? That was friggin’ amazing!” Dee’s eyes shine as she gives him a big hug and Loki’s cheeks are practically aflame.

“Thanks for being here,” he says so softly she can barely hear him over the next act warming up. “I mean it…thank you,” he whispers into her ear as he plays with the end of one of her braids.

A pale skinned girl in black leggings and crop top, bone straight shoulder length ruby red hair parted in the middle and a lip piercing walks up to them, adjusting her rectangle-framed black eyeglasses. 

“Hey Nat,” Loki says pulling out of the hug.

“Duuuude, you were killin’ it tonight! All that grinding in your secret lair is paying off, boy,” she swats at his arm.

Loki blushes again, “Thanks, yeah, I think I hit most everything much better than last month at the Rainbow Bridge.”

“For sure, man.”

A swoopy blond haired, blue-eyed guy in a plaid shirt and big wire-framed glasses walks up holding two glasses of water. He hands the one with a pink straw in it to Nat.

“Thank you, Steve,” she takes it and cups a hand on his arm and he blushes. 

“Just how you like it, no ice with a little straw,” Steve rubs the back of his neck.

“Mmm,” Nat nods as she sips, the corner of her mouth turning up.

“Great show tonight,” Steve gives Loki a high five.

“Thanks, dude,” Loki says.

“Hey Steve, my godmother can’t stop talking about you,” Dee smiles. Her godmother, Maebelle Walker, was a county judge who’d taken Steve under her wing after he won an all-school debate competition freshman year, not long after his family moved to Texas from New York. She’d invited him to the courthouse to shadow the attorneys and even given him a few small assignments. He’s now more eager than ever to become a public defender one day.

“She’s always like, ‘What a bright young man, I tell you, he’s gonna do so much good in the world. And he’s a vegan too!’”

“Yo, tell her that her BBQ seitan recipe is outta this world,” Steve’s native Brooklyn accent comes out more when he’s excited. _It’s cute_ , Dee thinks. _Kinda reminds me of Bugs Bunny_. “Can you believe we had Bucky licking sauce off his fingers and asking for thirds?” 

Dee laughs, “You mean you got your meat-maniac brother down with the veggie ‘cue? I’ll be sure to let her know. Where is he tonight, by the way?” 

“Oh, he’s out salsa dancing with Leticia. They might swing by Stark’s later, if y’all are coming along?” 

Nat groans. “If Wanda wasn’t doing her set…” 

Steve smirks, “Nat doesn’t…care for Tony much.” 

“He’s a dickhead. Yeah I said it.”

“He’s just…he’s got a lot on his plate,” Loki rests an arm around Dee’s shoulder and their heads touch. She remembers what happened back at his place earlier and a warm shiver runs up her spine and back down again...

Still hovering above the earth, she raises an eyebrow, “Who’s Wanda, by the way?”

“Freshman? Long brown hair, kinda quiet, always wearing those big-” Steve gestures over his ears.

“Yeah, the headphones. She’s a sweet kid and a brilliant singer too. Leti and I are trying to convince her to go up for Sandy.” 

Loki smiles, “Well, maybe Dee and I will swing by to check out her set.”

“Cool. She’ll be on around 11. See ya there.” 

“See ya,” Steve waves.

 _Saturday night, 10:50 PM_  

The front door of the Stark mansion swings open and they’re met with a wild Tony Stark, thumping music, and a room full of dancing kids jumping and singing:

_Hip Hop hooraaaay! Hooo! Heeeey! Hooo!_

“Ayyyyyy! Welcome, welcome, welcome!” he opens his arms and hugs both Dee and Loki. Dee smiles weakly and Loki pats him on the back.

“Yo we got Zima, Hiennie, Henny, Goose, take your pick ladies and gents,” Tony cackles with his tongue out and twisting around so his arms are around Loki and Dee’s shoulders.

“Nah, man, we’re cool,” Loki gently takes Tony’s arm off. “You doin’ alright?”

Tony whoops in reply. Loudly. Repeatedly. Some of the guests turn and eye him up and down.

“Okay, Stark, let’s cool it for a minute,” a tall, handsome brother in a white button down shirt claps Tony on the back. Tony continues to yell and the guy laughs with abandon. Dee notices that he seems calm and relaxed in spite of Tony’s…exuberance like he’d seen it many times before. He turns and meet’s Dee’s eyes with such warmth and joy that she wants to sink into the floor like TLC at the end of the “Waterfalls” video.

“Hey, I’m Jim but people call me Rhodey. I just started at Rice and got boarded wit this knucklehead over here,” he gestures with his thumb at Tony. 

“Deanne,” she takes his hand. 

“And I’m Loki,” he glances sideways at Dee and grins. 

Dee coughs. “Right, uh, we’re gonna go upstairs for Wanda’s set. You wanna come?” 

Rhodey shakes his head and laughs, “I better stay down here and help Pepper keep an eye on this one,” Pepper, who’s started a massage train, motions for Tony to come over and he sits, but springs up again to serve shots to three guys from his engineering program before launching into an intense conversation about magnetohydrodynamics with them. 

“Catch you later then?” Dee smiles.

Rhodey nods, “I”ll be here.”


	8. Chapter 8

_Saturday night, 11:12 PM_  

Loki clasps Dee’s hand as they walk up the stairs towards the blue-lit room where Wanda’s already spinning, long hair shading her face. They wander up to the tables and catch her after she switches to the next track. 

“Hi Wanda! I’m Dee and this is Loki. We’re friends of Nat’s.” 

“Oh hey guys, glad you could make it. Nat and Steve are over there,” she waves to them and they wave back, swaying to the groovy lounge-y tune alongside Leti and Bucky.

“Hey Wanda! What’s that say?” Dee shouts, gesturing to the word spray-painted on the back of Wanda’s red leather jacket. 

“Alohomora. It’s my DJ name. It’s from this British book my e-pal Viz in London sent me a couple years ago about a wizard and his friends at a magical boarding school,” Wanda grins. “Kinda nerdy, I guess.”

“I like it,” Loki raises both his eyebrows and gives her a thumbs up.

Just then, a familiar voice calls from behind them.

“Wandaaaa, ya tryin’ put everyone to sleep here? What’s with all the wah wah snoozy shit?” Tony stumbles into the DJ table, causing the record to skip. 

“Hey, watch it!” Nat shouts, pushing him back.

“Bwaahahaha, I’m only kiddin’ Nat, be cool,” Tony steadies himself before a warm voice calls for him from downstairs and he dashes off. 

“You two…have fun, alright?” Nat gives Dee a knowing look and rubs her arm before wandering back into the crowd with Steve. 

“Later, Nat,” Loki says.

“So,” Loki’s eyes go a bit watery as he gazes at Dee in the dim, blue light. 

“So.” 

They hold each others’ gaze for a few seconds and both start to say something at the same time, then both reach for the others’ hand at the same time, then laugh.

“Dance?” 

“Let’s” 

 _Love, love is a verb_  
_Love is a doing word_  
_Feathers on my breath_  
_Gentle impulsion_  
_Shakes me, makes me lighter_  
_Feathers on my breath_  
  
_Teardrop on the fire_  
_Feathers on my breath*_

Dee stretches her arms around Loki’s shoulders and he pulls one of her curled hands to his lips and kisses her fingers gently before placing it behind his neck and resting his head against hers. They sway, slowly, to the heartbeat of the music…to one another’s heartbeats, and the room falls away.

Dee closes her eyes and Loki his.

“Deanne,” he whispers, his voice even lower and more grumbly than usual. 

“Hm?” she mumbles back.

“Thank you.”

“Thank you…for what?” 

He catches her chin between his fingers and turns her face upwards, “For smiling back at me.” 

She smiles again and he catches her upturned lips with his own. 

 _I fake my life like I've lived_  
_too much,_  
_I take whatever you're given; not enough,_  
_Overground, watch this_  
_space, I'm open_  
_to falling_  
_from grace.**_

The last song fades to silence with a soft harp tune and Dee and Loki are lost in each others’ arms and lips. They don’t even notice as Wanda slips away and a new DJ takes her place.

*”Teardrop” by Massive Attack 

**”6 Underground” by Sneaker Pimps 


	9. Chapter 9

_Saturday night, 12:15 AM_

Having poured themselves into each other for the past forty-five minutes, Dee and Loki decide to head back to the Odins’. 

As they walk through the living room, Dee recognizes a large figure with fluffy black hair, surrounded by a few other familiar faces. 

“I can’t feel my legs… I HAVE NO LEGS” Bruce shrieks. 

“Tony, what the fuck. What did you give him?” Nat’s forehead creases as she glances between Stark and Bruce.

“Just a lil sumthin sumthin to help him loosen up, okay? He asked for it.”

“Wanda what happened?” Nat turns to Wanda. 

“I dunno, man, he’s been hanging out with us for a little while and then he started talking about” She lowers her voice. “Talking about you and Pepper was like ‘Don’t worry about her, you’ll find someone else, you’re so Gwyneth’ whatever that means and Bruce was like ‘Thanks but I’m still so sad’ and then Tony was all ‘Hey man I got what you neeeeed’ and now he has no legs.” 

“You know he’s not use to this stuff, he’s not you, asshole,” Nat shakes her head, shoves Tony out of the way, and kneels by Bruce while several people in the room go “Ohhhhhhhh.” Rhodey comes up and puts his arm around Tony.

“Okay, man, let’s go chill out for a bit, hm?” Rhodey meets Dee’s eye for a split second with an expression that says _This white boy always be getting himself into some mess._ She stifles a chuckle as they walk away.

Nat kneels down and gazes into Bruce’s eyes. 

“Hey there, big guy,” she says stroking his hand. 

“He….oh, oh hey Nat,” Bruce smiles like an infant. “Did you know…I have no legs???”

Steve lifts one of his arms around his shoulder and Nat grabs him by the waist, “That’s right, easy does it, off we go.”

 _Saturday night, 12:47 AM_  

Loki bends over and grabs a candle from the side of the wall. He lights it before lying down on the couch, gesturing for Dee to join him. She slips into his arms and they continue exploring each other’s mouths and cheeks and hands and...

“Do you want…” Dee’s hand traces down his chest towards his belt but Loki catches it. 

“I do, Deanne…very much so,” they share a smile. “But not yet.” 

“Me too…not yet,” she sighs and rests her head on his shoulder. 

“Did you have a good time tonight?” Loki tilts her chin up. 

“It’s the best night I’ve had in a while. Beats working on lab notes or writing essays.” 

“You really need to ease up a bit, girl,” Loki pretends to chomp at one of her braids and she bats him away, cracking a grin. “There we go.”

“That I do.”

“Where do you want to go for college anyway?” 

“Actually…I think I wanna go to Austin. Ma really wants me to go to Johns Hopkins…but, I dunno, I like Texas, it’s home. And at least in Austin I’ll be able to do more than just study all the time.” she sighs. 

“I really do want to practice one day…but I really want to…connect with people too, you know?” Dee blushes. “Doing good work is one thing, but sometimes it feels like I have to cut off my emotions to get everything done. I hope I don’t have to live like that forever.” She hadn’t spoken this honestly about her future plans with anyone, not even Tiff or her parents. He meets her eyes and listens and again, she sees it. Old soul Loki, wise beyond his years, sitting with her and listening like she’s the only thing that matters in the universe right now. She clears her throat. “How about you?”

“I wanna go to music school in Stockholm. Continue with guitar, but maybe focus more on composing.” 

“That would be amazing, Loki…but Sweden? Your parents would let you go there?”

“You might say...I have family there, actually…and I’ve been studying a bit of Swedish too.” 

“For real? Teach me some.” 

Loki cracks a grin. “OK…well, _hej_ , that’s an easy one.”

“Hey. Hey! Hee-ey” Dee says, waving her hands.

“That just means hi. They also say it like _hej hej!”_

“Hey hey! Oh, I like it. Another?”

“ _Hur m_ _år du?"_  

“Whoor. More. Doo?”

“Yep. It means ‘How are you?’”

“OK, but you gotta teach me some bad words too,” Dee pokes his foot. 

“I dunno…corrupting the track princess?”

“Stop calling me that,” Dee giggles, “And teach me some Swedish cuss words, Loki.”

“Naw, I can’t do it.”

“Please?”

“Nope.”

“One.”

“OK…uh, well _skit_ is…”

“Lemme guess…shit.” Loki nods. 

“One more, that one’s too similar, it don’t count. Gimme a challenging one.”

“OK, OK…well, here’s one courtesy of a dude I met on a death metal forum…say _helvete_.”

“Helvetay?” 

“ _Helvete_.” 

“Helveteh.”

“Nice.” 

“And what’s that?”

“It’s like ‘fucking hell’”

“Good one, good one,” Dee nods.

“Now say _Dee helvete va jobbigt_!”

Dee laughs, “Uh, _Dee helvete va jobbigt_!”

Loki grins.

“And that means….” 

“Dee you are so fucking annoying.”

Dee laughs and punches Loki in the arm, “Fuck you, Loki.” He pokes her back and they play-fight. After a minute they fall back on the couch, still laughing.

“ _Så vacker du är*_ ,” Loki says quietly. 

Dee’s giggles subside. “And what does that one mean?” 

“It means…I like tacos.” Loki blushes, his eyes meeting Dee’s. 

“Do they eat a lot of tacos in Sweden?” Dee says slowly, locking eyes with him.

“I like meatballs then,” eyes still locked. 

“Loki.”

“Hm?”

“Are you sleepy?”

“No. You?” 

“No.” 

“So what do you want to do now?”

“Hmm….watch a movie?” 

“Okay.”

“What movie?”

Loki pauses for a moment. “Oh I know what we can watch. Did you see _The Matrix_?" 

“Oh my gosh, yes!”

“Amazing, right?” 

“So cool!” 

“OK…so I have something sort of like that. Well, similar topic at least. Have you ever heard of anime?”

“Anna-may?” Dee shakes her head.

“Yes, it’s animation from Japan.”

“What like Poe-ka-man?” Dee snorts. She didn’t peg Loki to be the type to get into those animal card things her little cousin Mike’s always yelling about.

Loki smirks. “Technically, yes. But there’s a lot more to it. Animation over there isn’t just kids stuff, they have a lot of complex and beautiful films and series for all ages. Serious topics too. Like this one.” He pulls out a VHS tape. “It’s called Serial Experiments Lain.” 

Dee studies the box. A wide-eyed, pale young girl with short hair stares back at her, her head tilted to the side. 

“It has some of the same themes as _The Matrix_ …well, sort of the opposite maybe…but if you like to think about what reality is and how we might be deceiving ourselves about our limitations in it…I think you’ll like it.” 

Dee nods. “Let’s give it a go.”

Loki sticks the tape in the machine and lays back on the couch with a blanket as it whirls and clicks. Dee presses her back against his warm body and he wraps his arms and the blanket around her. 

A few minutes later, a robot-like voice says “Present Day…Present Time” and cackles, followed by TV static and a haunting female vocalist singing a melancholy tune in English as images of the girl from the box on various screens and lots and lots of ravens fill their eyes.

“Oh, I like this opening,” Dee smiles and Loki pecks her on the cheek.

About twenty minutes later, they’re both asleep.

 

*“How beautiful you are”


	10. Chapter 10

_Sunday morning, 10:17 AM_

Tiff and Dee get out of the car and walk across the gravely lot towards the small white chapel. 

“Whew! Thanks again for covering for me, girl. And for lending me this,” she glances down at the floral patterned dress. 

“Any time but,” she lowers her voice. “We gotta talk later, hm?” 

The service is the usual – long, long, long…but Dee finds Pastor Roberts’ words always help her get back on track with her spiritual life. She’d been a little…distracted lately, she admits, but it felt good to reconnect. Tiff was in the choir and even had a few solos…Dee loves watching Tiff’s facial expressions when she sings. She became someone entirely different, completely in service to God with her gifts.

A middle-aged man, a stranger, sits in the front pew, his expression stern and serious. He wears an eye patch and a tiny Army Veteran pin on the lapel of his white suit jacket. Sitting next to him is a younger, dark-skinned woman, about mid 30s and a teen girl with warm brown skin and curly hair who looks about Dee’s age, maybe a bit younger. 

Towards the end of the service, Pastor Roberts makes a few announcements. After those, he gestures to the visiting family.

“And please welcome Pastor Thomas Jenkins from New Hope Church in Biloxi, Mississippi and his wife and daughter, Letta and Sadie.”

The family turns and greets the crowd, which offers up a warm round of applause. 

After the service, Tiff is pulled home by her parents to help with her grandmother’s birthday party, but not before she does a phone and keyboard gesture, and Dee chats with some of the other kids from her school: Steve, Thor, Loki, Rhodey, Bruce, Wanda, Nat, and Tony. 

“Everyone feeling okay after last night?” Steve glances at Bruce.

Bruce nods, “I’m good…slept it off.” 

“How about you, Tony?” Nat bores her eyes into Stark. “You good?” 

“Yeah, yeah, uh, feeling much better,” he blushes slightly. 

“And you two?” Nat arches an eyebrow in Dee’s direction.

Both Dee and Loki blush and look at each other. “Yeah, we’re um…” Loki starts as Thor suddenly becomes fascinated with the floorboards. 

“Good morning,” a stern voice interrupts. 

“Oh, good morning, Pastor Jenkins,” Steve gives a cheerful wave as the rest of them turn around. 

“How about you kids come over to ours for some iced tea and dessert?” Pastor Jenkins wanders into the middle of the group. “You’re all welcome.” He regards each of them with his uncovered eye, hawk-like. “My wife is quite the baker.” 

“I’d love to come, pastor,” Steve pips up first. 

“We’ll come as well,” Rhodey and Tony nod. 

“Me too!” Wanda grins. 

“Me three,” Dee smiles at her, “And him too,” Loki gazes at his brother with what appears to be a bit of panic. 

“My brother and I would love to join you, pastor,” And Dee swears she sees Loki kick Thor’s shin even as he smiles the most charming smile she’d seen from him yet. 

“Alright. Here’s the address. Meet us over there whenever you’re ready.” 

_Sunday afternoon, 2:54 PM_

“Here you are, fresh brewed this morning,” Letta places a tray with nine tall glasses of iced tea with lemon on the coffee table.

Dee, Loki, Steve, Thor, Nat, and Wanda take their glasses at the same time and drink quietly. 

Pastor Jenkins snaps up a cup and gulps half of it down in one sip. 

“Papa really likes his sweet tea,” Sadie nods towards Dee. 

“Thank you, Mrs. Jenkins, it’s delicious,” Steve pips up.

“You’ve very welcome, young man.” 

“Cadie is an interesting little town, isn’t it?” Pastor Jenkins speaks slowly and deliberately, like he’s narrating a documentary. “I’ve heard a lot of good things from Pastor Roberts about what the kids here do for the community, you kids in particular.”

“Yes, well, we all try our best to make the most of what God’s given us,” Steve says.

“Your talents may come from God or they may come from…somewhere else.” Dee tilts her head, finding the emphasis odd, particularly for a pastor. “The important thing is that you use them.” 

“We do our best, sir,” Nat says. 

“We’ll be in town for a few weeks,” Pastor Jenkins says. “And you’re all welcome to come by after church every week. Maybe bring along some of your other…talented friends?” 

“A few weeks? Sadie, won’t you miss school?” Nat asks. 

“I’m home-schooled,” Sadie says quickly, glancing sideways at Mrs. Jenkins. “Momma teaches me.” 

“We travel around quite a bit so we decided that home-schoolin’ would be best for our Sadie,” Mrs. Jenkins says without hesitating. 

“You kids travel much?” Pastor Jenkins arches his eyebrows. Dee swears his un-patched eye rest a bit longer on Thor and Loki, who shift on the couch, Thor swallowing hard and Loki fiddling with the lemon in his tea.

“No, sir, but I sure would like to one day,” Steve sighs 

“That’s a wonderful dream, son, and I’ll sure you’ll find a way to make it come true. I’m sure all of you will, whatever your dreams may be.” Pastor Jenkins bows his head. 

_Sunday evening, 6:47 PM_

Dee walks up to the clearing by the river where Loki is already sitting on a tree stump, whittling away. He looks up when he hears her footfall. 

“Hey Dee,” A soft smile.

“Hey Loki,” A tiny shiver. 

“I found some branches for you,” Dee stretches her fist towards Loki, who hesitates before grabbing them from her, brushing her palm with his grasp as he takes them.

“That’s…that’s cool, thanks.”

“The visiting pastor was nice, wasn’t he? And his family, they were nice too.” 

Loki is silent, his eyes growing distant. 

“Deanne?” 

“Hm?” 

“No matter what happens…no matter what might change…in the future…we’ll always have this weekend, right?” 

Dee’s forehead wrinkles in confusion. “Loki, is something wrong?” 

“I can…I feel something. Like things might change here very soon.”

“Of course they will, we’ll be off to college and all live in different places an-“

“No, it’s not that. What it is I…cannot say.” 

He stands up in front of her, grasping one of her palms between his and holding it to his heart. 

“No matter where I go, or what I do, you’ll be right here,” He meets her eyes and she thinks they look awfully red…had he been crying? “OK? You’ll always be right here, Deanne.” 

“Loki,” she sighed, cradling her arms around his back and resting her head on his chest.


	11. Chapter 11

_Epilogue_

_Friday afternoon, 6:34 PM_

_Late 2015_

The first reunion after the defeat of Ultron had been set at the Avengers HQ in upstate New York for months now. They weren’t sure that they’d all be able to make it, of course, what with them all flung across the globe and, well, universe really. But the weekend had come and they were all going to be there.

Rhodey and Dee left their five year old, Tiffani (named after her childhood best friend, who she missed but seemed very happy doing mission work in a tiny country in east Africa called Wakanda), with her grandparents and flew in from Atlanta together. These days, Rhodey was known as the iron-suited warrior War Machine and Dee as Gilead for the healing powers she’d manifested through prayer that have been known to cure everything from minor cuts and bruises to stage four cancer in a matter of minutes, as well as soul aliments of many kinds.

Tony was settled back in New York City at the reverted Stark Tower with Pepper, who’s been running Stark Enterprises. Wanda flies in from Tokyo where she was DJ-ing on tour with Viz acting as her bodyguard, a cover for covert missions healing trauma patients with her reality-warping powers. Steve makes his way up from DC and Nat happens to be in New York touring with Cirque du Soleil, which was her cover for a few special ops side missions with S.H.I.E.L.D.

It had been only a few years since three members of the team: Wanda, Rhodey, and Dee, elected to have their pre-Avengers life memories retrieved. Wanda had a strong interest in accessing as much of her consciousness as she could due to the nature of her powers, and Rhodey and Dee decided that, as a couple, they would make that journey together. Of course, all of the memories Dee had of Thor and Loki came flooding back and she and Rhodey had spent hours talking about her conflicting feelings about a man who essentially destroyed a major city on their home planet. She knew he would be here and that this was the first time she’d see him, with all her memories, since Halloween in 1999. 

As Dee and Rhodey walk up to the residential compound, an assistant greets them and leads them to their private quarters.

“Rhodey,” Tony embraces his long-time friend. “Holding it down in Atlanta?”

“Yeah, man, we doing alright.”

“And Deanne, “ Tony nods to her. “How’s mini me?”

“She’s a fierce one, already got quite the grip on her,” Rhodey laughs. 

“She can mimic some of the capoeira moves cousin Mike shows her so we’re thinking someone might be in training very soon,” Dee smiles, full of hope for her little one.

Tony shoves his hands in his pockets and nods, “We need all the help we can get. Scotch?”

“I’ll take one,” Rhodey nods.

Dee shakes her head, “I’ll take the bags and settle in a bit.”

“Handled,” Tony’s voice comes from an android that walks up to them and swiftly wheels their suitcases towards the living quarters.

“Keeping yourself busy, Stark?” Rhodey grins.

Tony chuckles. “It's back to basics for me these days. Still got a few kinks to work out. Sorry. He’s not supposed to be that…grabby.” 

On the way to their room, Dee hears a familiar hum and buzz, followed by a lightning strike. Two tall figures, fully plated in armor, stand before her. She gasps at the sight of the leaner, paler one whose expression changes from defiant to soft when his eyes land on her.

“Loki,” Dee meets the alien prince’s sparkling eyes.

“Deanne,” he utters softly.

Dee puts her hands on her hips and scoffs. “How the fuck they let you outta space prison already? You learned your lesson yet?” Dee glances down and notices his hands are cuffed. 

“He most certainly has not,” a booming voice and a shoulder clap come from behind Loki and he grimaces. “But we’re working on him. In fact, we’ve let him out of prison to join this mission as part of his…rehabilitation.” 

They begin to walk together to their rooms.

“I still can’t believe y’all were posing as regular ol’ humans back in ‘99,” Dee chuckles.

“We were bored, and my brother has always admired Midgardians for what reason I do not know,” Loki rolled his eyes.

“You’re the one that always makes me watch those Midgardian adolescent films,” Thor presses the top of Mjölnir into Loki’s cheek and he sighs, a hint of fondness twinkling in his eyes. “Say Whatthouwilt? The Buellersleep? The Hero’s Melancholia? Witless Mortals? 10 Things I Hate About That All That She Who Can’t Hardly Wait? And you especially like that serial epic, Skaddi, Huntress of the Undead?”

“Loosely translated back from the Asgardian,” Loki lifts his eyes and meets Dee’s again. They share a smile. “And you like them too, don’t lie.”

“Well…all it took was a bit of Loki’s magic and a couple of our royal guards to stand in as Mother and Father.” 

“We did have the best ‘how I spent my summer vacation’ papers at the Academy that fall, didn’t we brother?” Loki cracks a tight-lipped grin in Thor’s direction.

“Indeed we did,” Thor grins back.

All three of them grow silent and Loki meets Dee’s eyes again. Thor coughs and says, “We’d best go settle in before the briefing. See you down there?” 

“See you soon,” Dee waves as Thor drags Loki behind an automated shiny sliding door.

_Friday evening, 10:23 PM_

After Fury briefs them, they have a bit of down time. The situation is dire – when isn’t it? But they’re up to the task and would start early the next morning after having the evening to rest and collect themselves. Dee is grateful for a little bit of solo time to relax while Rhodey catches up with Tony, Steve, and Thor over drinks and Viz, Nat, Pepper, and Wanda go into the city to a burlesque show with a group of music and _Cirque_ friends.

She plops on the couch, flips on the TV and pulls up Netflix. As she clicks through the options, Loki shuffles into the room and takes a seat on the opposite end of the couch. 

 _Well, so much for solo time._ But somehow, she doesn’t mind.

There’s a bit of a breeze from Loki’s direction, then bitter cold for a split second. When she looks over, he’s in his Jötunn form, all azure skin, blood-red eyes, and covered in what looks like deep etchings. 

“You know, for someone like me, your other form might be considered the true monster.” 

Loki makes a low sound in his throat.

“Then again, maybe that’s the case for a lot of us after what you did here.”

Another low sound. 

Dee smiles as the memories flood back. “Do you want me to play the song?” 

“No ma’am,” Loki does a perfect recreation of the attempt at an appropriate Midgardian accent (give or take a few centuries) he maintained so many years ago and Dee glances at his wrists.

“Wooow so are you and your brother done playing cops and robbers?” Dee looks back at the screen and reads the description of a romantic anime film.

“It appears we are. For now at least. We’ve been playing it for about 900 years after all.”

“You’ve been a good boy then?”

Loki betrays himself with a slight grin, “As good as always, Deanne.”

“Still not allowed outside the compound, I’m guessing.”

“No, I am not. And let’s just say that your dear husband and the other fellows are not exactly keen to catch up with me right now.” Loki smirks.

They’re both silent for several seconds. 

“You still play guitar?”

“I did before I left Asgard and became…preoccupied. Conjured up something remarkably similar with one of our court music conductor’s prized lyres. She still hasn’t forgiven me. If you bring me an instrument, my dear, I shall play a few bars of ‘Her Scream’,” Loki’s grin is wide and fond.

“Maybe later…I’m sure Tony’s got one lying around here somewhere,” Dee smiles back. This Loki took some getting used to, but the minute Dee thought it was strange he’d smile or gesture in a way that reminded her that he was essentially the same as when they’d last seen each other in the time of his people.

Silence again. 

“Deanne.” 

“Hm?” 

“When I told you about my family back when we first met…what I shared…that was…the truth. And you, guileless mortal that you are…you were open to me….you listened.” 

“Guileless mortal? Gee thanks, Loki.”

Loki’s cheeks flush a deep navy. A hint of that supremacist ideology which gripped him leading up to the Battle of New York lingers along with the mindset behind it. He knows he has a lot more work to do. “No, but…I just wanted to say...I appreciated that.” 

“Well, I’m glad I could help…even though you clearly were going through more than you realized.”

“I was the guileless one, really,” he smirks. 

“Yes you were.”

More silence. 

Loki inches towards her on the couch.

“And…I also wanted to say…”

Dee arches her eyebrows.

He slides right next to her and takes her hand. She gasps but relaxes when she sees the look in his eyes. The same wonder and openness she saw so many years ago, that night in early October when she’d gone to his show.

“I really, truly did care for you. Do care for you. And I always will. Care for you. Deeply.” 

She meets his eyes, whispers, “I will always care for you too.”

Their eyes meet for several seconds and Loki leans in and brushes his lips against Dee’s cheek and then ever-so-softly against her lips. She takes his cheek in her hand and rests her head against his. They stay there for several seconds, the sound of their breath and a dull hum from the TV all that fills the room. 

Minutes pass, then they slide back apart. When Dee glances over, he’s back in his Asgardian form. She picks up the remote again and clicks while Loki gazes at nothing in particular. 

“Ey Loki.”

“Hm?”

“They’ve got ‘Witless Mortals’ here in its original Midgardian English.” 

Loki ‘s eyes light up, a ring of green energy forming around his fist, “I’ll make the popcorn.” 

Epilogue theme song: “Easy” by Anna Wise and Xavier Omar.


	12. Chapter 12

“Post-Credits” Scene

_S.H.I.E.L.D. HQ Briefing Room_

_Washington, DC_

_November 1 st 1999_

Nick Fury paces around the table of young students. 

“We need to separate you all before we begin your training. Concentrations of emerging enhanced individuals in one place bring…undesirable attention. I would rather not take that risk until we’re all ready to stand against it. Together.” 

“Each of you will have a new start. You won’t remember your old life, but you will be free to use the powers you have to become the heroes we need when we need them.”

Fury hands out sleek silver-plated S.H.I.E.L.D. folders, a unique profile sheet nestled in each one. 

“These are your new life histories. Within them lies your training. We will erase your memories and these will become your lives. We thought it would be…helpful to share where you will be going to ease the shock of it all as much as the situation allows.”

Nat, Steve, Wanda, Dee, Rhodey, Tony, Bruce, and Bucky open their folders and read silently. 

Nat chuckles darkly to herself. “I’m going to be a Russian spy. I’ve always wanted to learn Russian.”

“You will be fluent within three days and then move on to several other languages,” Fury says. “We have a program for that.” 

“Beat that, Muzzy.” Nat exchanges grins with Bruce.

“I’m going to Europe too…to Sokovia? And I will have a twin brother…and I’m not to reveal my powers until something called HYDRA experiments on both of us?” 

“What’s HYDRA?” Dee asks.

“Further information on HYDRA is classified at this time,” Fury remarks. “We’ll come for you when we’re ready, Wanda.”

“Well, I’m pretty much going to be the same, handsome young billionaire playboy,” Tony clucks and puts his hands behind his head. “Except I’ll be up at MIT with you, Rhodey, it looks like, after you finish with the Air Force,” he raises his eyebrows.

“Imma be a pilot _and_ an aerospace engineer? Cool, man.” Rhodey nods, “Very cool.” 

“We’ve got a few friends up there in robotics we want you both to work with,” Fury nods to Rhodey and Tony. 

“And I’ll be going to Harvard…where I’ll complete…seven PhD?” Bruce gasps.

“Some of those core requirements overlap,” Fury tilts his head forward in Bruce’s direction. “I’ll sure you’ll manage.”

“Wait til you hear mine…I’m going to think that I’m a solider from World War II who is frozen in the ocean until…2011??” 

“And I’m going to be his best friend who…whoa,” Bucky’s eyes go wide.

“We’ll talk more offline about you two,” Fury assures the brothers, but they don’t look any more relaxed. 

“I’m just…I’m going to go to college in Austin.” Dee says quietly. “I’ll study Biology, I’ll be a regular student, and then grad student who likes to run 10 miles every morning.” 

“Sometimes hiding in plain sight is best,” Fury meets Dee’s eyes and pets his orange tabby cat. 

“You’ll come back together when the time is right. I will make sure of it.” 

“What will be the right time?” Dee asks. “What exactly is it that we’re waiting for?” 

“The threats that come from up there,” Fury points to the sky. 

“Like Loki and Thor? They came from ‘up there’ didn’t they?” 

“We don’t know what it will be yet. All we know is that something will come some day and when that something gets here, we’re not about to bring a knife to a gun fight.” 

“And our powers? How will we get them?” Tony glances around the room then at Fury. 

“It’ll be different for each of you. We don’t know exactly how it will happen, but we have some idea. So you’ll just have to wait and see.”

“Will we ever have all our memories back? And will we even know each other when we meet again?” Steve asks, glancing at Bucky.

“After we assemble you, we will debrief you on everything you’ll need to know to complete your first mission,” Fury nods. “That will include the choice to retrieve your current memories. Of course, if you happen to meet by circumstance…we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it.” 

A balding middle aged white man with a kind smile enters the room, “We’re ready, sir,” he nods to Fury.

“Be right there, Agent Coulson,” Fury nods back. 

“I’ll be right back. Take a few minutes to let this all settle in,” Fury saunters out and his cat follows, mewing as it rubs itself against his leg.

Everyone eyes each other, “Yo, is this wild or what?” Rhodey chuckles. 

“Kinda weird he’s got that cat. Anyone else think it’s weird?” Tony gestures with his thumb. 

“Weird but endearing,” Wanda grins. 

“So guys…we’re going to be the Avengers. Earth’s Mightiest Heroes. How’re we feeling about that?” Nat glances around the room. 

Silence. She glances again. 

They meet each others’ eyes. 

And they all burst out laughing. 

After a minute or two they grow silent, glancing around the room at one another, grinning in the face of their unexpected future pasts apart…and future future together.

**Author's Note:**

> This fic is inspired by an alternating Thor/Loki themed workout mix I made a couple years ago and an idea that came to me recently about setting up a late 90s-themed high school AU. Then I got sick and was homebound for a long weekend, and this fic was born. 
> 
> Full disclaimer, there are plenty of things that are included in the fic that I only know about from doing a little research and the story has not been beta’d so apologies in advance for any wild inaccuracies. 
> 
> I've read fic in a number of fandoms for years but this is the first one I've written, completed, and posted! Like many other new writers, I'm kinda scared to post it but if even just one person reads it and gets something from any part of it, I'll consider my job here done :)
> 
> Dedicated to anyone, but especially my fellow sepia sigyns, who could use a little more tenderness in their life <3


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